Beacon
= CAPTURING AND HOLDING BEACONS IS THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS GAME! = Beacons A beacon is a location on a map that can be captured by either team. Each map has five beacons, marked by beams of light coming from a small structure on the ground. At the start of a match all five beacons are unclaimed and show a white light. When a beacon is captured by allies it changes color to blue, and when captured by an opponent changes to red. A captured beacon will remain captured until the end of the game unless it is captured by the opposing team. Beacons can be captured and recaptured multiple times during a match. On the HUD, just below the countdown timer are 5 letters A B C D E representing the 5 beacons. These show which team, if any, controls each beacon by the colour of the circular background. In the example shown, the enemy team (red) control beacons A and B, while the player’s team (blue) control beacons C, D and E. Capturing a Beacon In order to capture a beacon, a robot must remain within several meters of the beacon until it is captured. There are two basic scenarios for capturing a beacon: # Unclaimed beacon: as soon as a robot enters and remains in the capture radius, the letter corresponding to that beacon will begin flashing that team's color around the beacon in an increasing pie, for approximately 5 seconds until the letter has a solid color background and is captured. If the robot leaves the capture radius or is destroyed before the circle completes the beacon will remain uncaptured. # Already claimed beacon: as soon as a robot from an opposing team enters the capture radius, the beacon letter will begin flashing a countdown, but will remain as previously captured for 5 seconds, then turn white before beginning to be captured by the robot. If the robot leaves the capture radius or is destroyed before the beacon turns white, the beacon will remain in the opposing team's control. As in scenario 1, it is possible for a robot to turn the beacon to white and leave the capture radius before securing the beacon for her team. A claimed beacon requires an approximate 10 second cycle to be captured by the opposition. # '''Special case, the contested beacon: '''A beacon cannot be claimed if multiple robots from both teams are all inside the capture radius. The beacon will remain unclaimed (or unchanged depending on the scenario) until one team's robot(s) are destroyed or leave the capture radius. In this scenario, multiple players of the same team who are inside the capture radius and win the beacon will all receive credit for capturing (capping) the beacon. Dominance bar These are color-coded blue and red bars which are located just under the player's HUD. The blue bar represents the blue team's dominance, and the red bar represents the red team's dominance. The game begins with each team having a full bar. Each beacon held depletes/reduces the opposing team's dominance bar by a set amount over time (a rate) for as long as the beacon is held. A team's bar will continue shrinking so long as the enemy team holds at least one beacon. Held beacons cause the bar to decrease in a linear fashion, ie: 5 beacons held will reduce the enemy's bar 5 times faster than holding 1 beacon. Victory Capturing and holding beacons is the main object of the game. There are two ways to achieve victory that are directly related to the beacons: # Fully depleting the Dominance bar of the opposing team. # Having more of the Dominance bar remaining than the opposing team has when the game timer reaches zero. Generally, it is good to acquire three beacons and hold those three. Although holding all five beacons is the fastest path to victory, against a well matched team it is improbable to successfully defend more than three beacons at once. The center beacon is usually the most hotly contested beacon, and it is very common for this beacon to change hands many times in one battle. 5,000 silver is awarded for each beacon capture and the Medal of Capture and 5 gold is awarded to player on the winning team with the most beacon captures. In the case of multiple winning players capturing the same number of beacons, the medal is awarded at random to one of those players. Category:Guide Category:Game interface